NM PED 2026 Literacy and Humanities Summer Conference

Disciplinary literacy is the ability to think, read, write, and communicate in ways that align with the unique practices of a specific field. In this interactive session designed for middle and secondary teachers, you will move beyond generic comprehension strategies and focus on the discipline-specific ways of thinking that help students truly make sense of complex texts.

Drawing on the research of Shanahan and Shanahan, you will examine how mathematicians, historians, scientists, and literary scholars engage with texts and how these expert moves can be translated into effective classroom instruction. Together, you will unpack why disciplinary literacy is distinct from general reading strategies and identify practical approaches you can incorporate into your teaching tomorrow. You will leave with a clearer understanding of how to mentor your students as they navigate the specialized language and unique inquiry methods of your specific subject area.

In this session, you will explore the why, the what, and the how of strong fluency instruction specifically for the secondary grades. You will discover how science-based instructional routines can provide middle and high school students with the necessary support to access and succeed with grade-level complex texts.

Designed for teachers, coaches, and instructional leaders, this session provides you with research-based, ready-to-implement fluency routines that fit the unique needs of the secondary classroom. You will walk away with practical strategies to help your students build the automaticity required for deeper comprehension, ensuring they have the tools to navigate challenging content across all subject areas.

This session invites secondary educators to bridge the gap between reading and writing standards by embedding a high-impact protocol from WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship into literary analysis instruction. Participants will unpack key Reading (6–12 RL/RI) and Writing (6–12 W.1 and W.2) standards to better understand their interconnected nature.

Through guided close-reading and evidence-gathering routines, attendees will collaboratively design lesson sequences that move students from initial textual interpretation to structured, argument-driven essays. Through hands-on modeling and peer collaboration, educators will leave with ready-to-implement strategies that weave reading comprehension and writing skills into a seamless instructional flow, ensuring students can effectively communicate their analysis of complex texts.

What happens when your learners encounter texts that pull them in emotionally, intellectually, and physically? In this interactive workshop, you will experience an immersive, text-rich exploration of nuclear procurement in Indian Country, feeling firsthand how a compelling topic and carefully curated text set can activate deep engagement.

Following this experience, you will begin developing your own compelling topics and accompanying text sets for use at your local site. Finally, using the Indigenous Critical Curriculum Framework, you will examine your emerging plans for curriculum violence by asking not just if the work is engaging, but who the curriculum serves and who it might harm. You will leave with a compelling topic in progress and a critical lens to carry forward into all your future instructional design.

In this session, you will explore practical strategies for strengthening student comprehension by harnessing the power of grammatical building blocks and syntactic awareness. You will learn how a function-first approach to grammar instruction can directly support meaning-making, helping students see how sentences are built to convey specific ideas.

Using free Reading Universe resources, including video demonstrations and ready-to-use instructional materials, you will build practical knowledge and skills for teaching syntax in ways that are immediately applicable to your classroom. You will discover how intentional instruction in grammar and sentence structure can transform a reader's ability to navigate and understand complex text. You will leave with a toolkit of routines that turn grammar from a dry subject into a dynamic key for unlocking deep comprehension.

Despite decades of reading research, a persistent gap remains between what the science of reading tells us and what happens in classrooms every day. While you may want to shift your practice toward evidence-based instruction, you might feel uncertain about where to start, what skills to prioritize, or how to teach those skills effectively. Reading Universe, a free online platform, directly addresses this challenge by serving simultaneously as a research library, a professional learning pathway, and a classroom-ready resource bank.

In this session, you will explore Reading Universe as a tool organized around three essential questions every literacy educator faces: What do I need to teach, why does it matter, and how do I teach it well? Through hands-on navigation of the platform, video analysis, and collaborative reflection, you will leave with both a deeper understanding of structured literacy and a concrete, accessible resource to support your ongoing professional growth.

In this engaging and interactive session, you will explore how to build capacity for disciplinary literacy in grades 6 through 12. Grounded in the science of reading, this session provides practical routines and strategies that support student comprehension, vocabulary, and knowledge building across all content areas at the middle and high school levels.

You will experience and examine examples of discipline-specific work being done in classrooms across New Mexico and leave with tools you can use immediately. Additionally, you will be introduced to the Reading Apprenticeship framework, which is an approach that supports student reading, thinking, and learning in every discipline. You will also learn how your school or district can access free training for teachers and administrators during the 2026–27 school year. By the end of this session, you will have a clear path for empowering your secondary students to master the complex texts of their specific subjects.